Gcses 2019 support thread 5

This is A levels, not gcse, but did anyone else see the article in the Times about a level maths boundaries for "a pass" being 20% this or last year. Article really annoyed me as it didn't seem to say what they meant by a pass - at 20% surely an E. But in what sense other than the very most technical is that really a pass?

Arthur - I suspect the cake is one of three things one has to loved as a child to love now, I'd you see what I mean :-)

Another likely historian here too. He is going to have to be careful about course details too - I suspect for instance that Bristol would be too woke for him. Still lots of time for all that I hope

Although...that's probably A-levels isn't it? D'oh.

Ds has just come down to tell me that AQA have just tweeted that all grade boundaries have now been set [eeeeek]

Ds1 assures me he is starting his a level "homework" tomorrow....

I've booked him his 1st hpv vaccine tomorrow which he's thrilled about :)

He hasn't really mentioned results day. At his school the kids have to go in on their own (no parents allowed) from 9.30am.

Enrollment at 6th form is same day - he should get his time slot this week.

I think this week will drag tbh as dh is away and we have no plans.

Seems hard to believe that exams ended 2 months ago!!

Results day nerves starting to rear their head here. DS2 starting to worry about whether he has chosen the exact right A level combination he wants to do, grades depending, but he does have time to change, assuming timetabling works. Just starting some A level prep so gearing back up again. As for university, he knows what subject but has done no research on where or what areas exactly he wants to study. Trying not to wind him up by suggesting he 'might' like to consider that sometime soon.

Sorry for stupid typos, fingers moving faster than my brain.

We were very zen about the situation until re read the entry criteria for 6th form...we knew her maths might be risky for a 7, so if she got a 6 she would drop maths A Level and do physics instead. Now in transpires that she needs a 7 in maths to do the sciences! (She wants to do chem/biology/maths or physics)

So now we're very nervous.

I have booked a holiday for the 23rd, because we'll either be celebrating or needing to get away

On a positive note, the wait hasn't been too hard, time has gone so fast.

Tbh in my view as long as they get the 5 or 7 passes they need to move onto A level its fine

This is also where we got to, from DD originally saying she was aiming all for 7s or more. The GCSEs were a bit of a disaster for her emotionally, and I think are clouding how she feels about A levels, she still can't decide what to do, nothing is enthusing her much. Sixth form registration on the 27th when she can also go around and chat to different subject teachers and make a final decision.

Omg a colin wedding cake sounds hilarious!

10 days to results now! DS is sitting on two sixth form college offers and still hasn't decided which one he wants to go to. Enrolment is 27th so he is going to need to make a decision, at the latest, once results are out/on the bank holiday weekend. And he doesn't know which A levels but results may clarify that.

As for university, I hope he's a bit more decisive. He will probably want to do history/languages. But he also does a fairly niche athletics discipline and there aren't that many university cities where he would be able to carry on with it - Leeds, Cardiff, Leicester and Warwick would be the key ones outside London and Loughborough is a good all round sports choice. York could also work as being close to Leeds and I suppose Bradford too. In terms of distance from home, Warwick would be perfect - far enough away to be away but only 2 hours drive on a good day. Anyway we will see - need to sort out sixth form college first!

Michaelapurple Yes, DD2 also already knocked out UCL and Kings, shame, I had visions of her sharing a flat with DD1 who is already in London, although hadn't yet broached that one with DD1 .

She would like to do History and/or Ancient History. I think the main problem at the moment is the huge amount of variations within the courses. Each university has a slightly different choice of modules, and finding the right course for her slightly eccentric requirements seem to be hard. She has just looked up the universities her history teachers went to, and as they are all pretty young, she is going to grill them when she gets back to school. Mostly in the South/South East so that is good .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_the_Caterpillar

Harking back to childhood. But OMG..... they now do a wedding Colin cake too!!!!!

Am now fascinated about what caterpillar cakes are....

Arthurseat - I very much get the geography point. DS 1 is not very far along on the university research stakes but from the grunting doesn't want London because we live here and doesn't want Scotland or the north for highly mature climate and grimness reasons (we have Scottish family to make that dafter). Have been trying to point out that he has nearly knocked out Durham, UCL, Kings, Edinburgh etc etc so what exactly is his plan - Oxford and Exeter is not a strategy - but it definitely isn't going in yet. And I do feel that if they aren't feeling driven at this point that Oxford isn't realistic. So.

Teenagers. Boys. Harumph

Tbf, perhaps he thinks it a waste of time until he has his results as a guideline.

@ArthursSlave yes it’s funny they all seem to love caterpillar cakes!!
@CarrieErbag wishing you luck🤞🏻this is such a stressful time. Bullying is the worst
Bimkom, theatre is a great idea!
Have decided Dd needs to go into school to collect hers instead of dashing off to Reading as we have been told queries re results need to be made that morning to the teacher, so we are realistically looking at an in car breakfast celebration zipping down the motorway!
Really rooting for all of the dc requiring sixth form places.

Issue of course being that to get into dreaded sixth form he really needs some pretty stellar results, so the two go hand in hand. Six eights just sounds so hard now, not to mention the seven for English. Feeling very gloomy at the moment about it. Somehow I can only remember the bits that didn't seem to go so well (like the social media question in the English lang exam), the very hard third paper in maths and the first paper he thinks he flubbed. I know I have pessimistic tendencies, I often fear the worst. DS is trying not to think about it, although I know he is, he is also worrying, so I am trying to keep my gloom away from him. I may well not be being realistic, I suspect it is the bits that didn't go so well that I can remember, not the one that were OK, which have blurred. He has been very busy up until this week, but he has had nothing to do this week, and I think it was not a good move. We need to find more to occupy him.

We have booked to see Joseph the night of the results (22nd) via kidsweek. Last year we can take DS (sob, it saves so much!) DS absolutely loves musical theatre. Wasn't so much booked as a reward exactly, it was a combination of the dates working for us and what we could get on kidsweek, but I did think when I booked it that it might be a good thing. A boost if the results go well, and something to get him out of the house and not dwelling endlessly on might have beens if the results do not go so well. Although I suppose if he is miserable he will wreck it for the entire family. Also some good songs about adversity in it, I guess.

*decides

That's encouraging, I hope that she decided to go and it works out.
She was badly bullied so it's quite a big thing for her.
Not to mention we are concerned about the costs of home ed at A level .She wants to do an mfl and a science which puts the cost up hugely.
Anyway we'll see...

Ds1 was home schooled for year 3 and going back into school was the right thing for him x

Thanks @Hoooo

Big change carrie!
Good luck x

Home edder here waiting for results.
Fairly nervous and lots of decision making ahead as school may be a possibility.

I might have already said this back thread, but DD has requested a caterpillar cake . Strange child. Nevertheless I will oblige, and I am sure we will go out for lunch or dinner somewhere nice.

Me too maud

I pointed out to ds1 before the exams that universities will not give a stuff whether he gets a 5,6,7,8 or a 9 at gcse - just his a level grades.

I'm hoping it helped him gain focus.

I can't fault his effort.

Results will be what will be.

I will NOT be this zen on 22nd! 😁

Tbh in my view as long as they get the 5 or 7 passes they need to move onto A level its fine

I am absolutely in this mindset too now. I honestly do not give a damn about strings of 7s, 8s or 9s. I want him to be happy at the college he wants and doing the A-levels he wants, that's all.

On the 22nd I won't be giving details of his individual grades, I'll just be posting whether he's got what he needs or not